INSTEP Magzine

overview 2008
Cinema's strange journey:
From 'rocking' to 'on the rocks'!
The year that kicked off with the release of Bollywood movies in our cinema houses and hordes of people rushing to watch them has ended with a fade away effect. Instep takes a look at the rollercoaster ride that 2008 was for cinema in Pakistan.

By Fatima Zakir

If 2007 was one of the worst years for Pakistani entertainment, then 2008 was much better. The music industry was going great guns with every conceivable major artist releasing albums throughout the year and our cinemas were full thanks to the Indian films that were coming in. From the first big release Race to Karan Johar's Dostana, cinema houses were full. The revival of cinema was finally happening, thanks Bollywood films. Khuda Kay Liye may have started it, but let's face it, it was the release of Bollywood blockbusters that carried it through.

From 2007, which was the year of great upheaval with the sacking of the Chief Justice, the lawyer's movement, the imposition of emergency the return of Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto her subsequent murder, there was no room for entertainment in 2007. The country held its breath throughout the year and it was only well after 2008 had begun that we breathed a bit easier. From the tentative release of the all colour Mughal e Azam in Pakistan two years ago, to the release of Indian films - as tensions eased up between India and Pakistan, much talk of collaboration was in the air.

Atif Aslam became the most popular Pakistani star in India. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan sang songs for Yash Chopra. Shahfqat Amanat Ali crooned Mitwa that was picturised on Shahrukh and Rani. Javed Sheikh even played Shahrukh Khan's father in Om Shanti Om. It was only a matter of time before Indian films were released here and so it was.

And when they were, our cinema houses prospered!
That was till the Mumbai attacks at the end of 2008. The ensuing India-Pakistan tension has led to a crisis in the industry.

The downward spiral
The situation just got worse since India blamed Pakistan for the Mumbai carnage. In fact, the Hindu party Shiv Sena has discouraged any kind of interaction between Pakistanis and Indians. Of course the effect had to trickle down to our side of the border too. Movies like Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Shoot On Sight and Ghajini were rumoured to be released in December but haven't see the light of the day as yet, even though both Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Ghajini were eagerly awaited in Pakistan.

"We have our government's approval and the producers initially had no problems but now after the Mumbai attacks, we are reluctant to release it in the theatres," says Atif Rasheed, who brought in Dostana and was set to release Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi in Pakistan. "We are just playing it safe right now. Yash Raj's office is in Mumbai and they have asked us to hold back the movie for at least some time till the situation gets better."

Geo Films was optimistic about the release of Ghajini on December 25 as the Indian government was still holding onto the green signal they had given. But just a couple of days before the release, they changed gear.

"Nothing has been finalized for Ghajini's release yet," Rehmat Fazli, Director Geo Films informed Instep. "Initially, we had no problems from India and they were willing to release it officially in Pakistan but now the situation has gotten worse so we are holding onto its release."
One wonders if these films will do well if they are released here at a later date. The DVDs for both are out selling very well across video stores in Pakistan. The cinemas' loss is the pirates' gain.

Cinemas: The real losers
Just couple of years ago the dearth of quality Pakistani films, the official ban on Indian movies and their proliferation via piracy and few Hollywood coming in had made things very difficult for cinemas to flourish. Most of them went out of business and the owners sold them to people who invariable demolished them. Meanwhile, as the DVD culture kicked in, people preferred not to go to cinemas. There were far better films to be watched on pirated DVDs than there were on cinema screens.

"The Pakistani film industry is dead and you can't make it stand on its own anyway," says Asif Razzaque, Director Capri Cinema, Karachi. "To run a cinema house you need sixty movies per year on an average and we just have two Urdu movies released throughout the year. There are Punjabi movies but they have a limited viewership in Karachi. Then piracy had further crippled us as it scared away all our Hollywood movie importers."

Asif Razzaque is just one of the many cinema owners who feel that the release of Indian films is essential to revive cinemas in Pakistan.

The fact is that English movies that have done great business internationally might just flop at our box office. A case in point was The Dark Knight, that was one of the biggest international hits in 2008, but failed to do as much business in Pakistan as expected.

"The Dark Knight failed to make the impression expected from it," says Mohsin Yaseen, Marketing and Project Manager Cinepax, Rawalpindi. "In its first week it collected nearly five lacs which is quite a low amount as far as a good movie business is concerned. Bollywood movies do well in comparison to the Hollywood flick. Imran Khan's Kidnap (which flopped worldwide) did far better business than The Dark Knight."

Even big movies like Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull, Mummy 3, and Hancock didn't really strike a chord among the masses. On the contrary Iron Man fared pretty well.

And as for Pakistani films, there has been no massive blockbuster to walk on the path Khuda Kay Liye blazed so successfully in 2007. Ramchand Pakistani earned critical acclaim from film festivals nearly all over the world but failed to attract a sizable audience back home. The same is true for Javed Sheikh's Khulay Asmaan Kay Neeche that bombed at the box office despite the fact that it came out with much publicity and promotion. And unfortunately for cinemas to survive, they need to sell tickets or the owners will pack up their bags and go.

As for Pakistani film lovers, it was just last year with Khuda Kay Liye that they realised Pakistani cinema had to do something other than the gujjars and gandasas. The film was such a massive success that people started talking about the revival of cinema. What we failed to realise is the fact that one Khuda Kay Liye can't revive cinema and in order to actually win people's faith in movies, it's important to develop a culture of watching movies on big screen. With no quality productions from home, the best alternative was and remains Bollywood. And Indo-Pak tensions do not change that reality.

Indian films are box office magic in Pakistan
Though a lot of people objected to the release of Indian films on this side of the border (mostly disgruntled Lollywood walas), their release showed immense positive results. The turnout at cinemas increased, cinema owners no more wanted to wind up business and it helped local distributors too. In fact the Universe Cineplex owner in Karachi planned to open up another multiplex in the city to ensure a healthy environment for movie lovers. The release of Indian films made his multiplex a successful business venture. Even Indian filmmakers were pleased with the official release of their movies as they were able to earn through their films in Pakistan.

Though business wise Bollywood movies are risky too but they are less risky than Hollywood films. Movies like Kismet Konnection, Yuvvraaj and Kidnap that flopped all over the world and only did marginally well in India remained in Pakistani theaters for quite some weeks. Similarly, Dostana and Race came to Pakistan with little hype and swept the box office reports turning to be huge hits!
"I have brought in the maximum number of movies to the country from Bhoothnath to Kidnap and from immensely successful Singh Is Kinng to Golmaal Returns," says Sajjad Gul, CEO of Evernew Films. "There was no culture of going out with the family and engage in some recreational activity. Our idea of having fun is to eat out or go for shopping but with Bollywood movies at least we have a better way of spending our family time. And if we really want to have a finely functioning film industry, we should have at least 200 good theaters in the country."

And Pakistan can only have these theaters if they make money, or else any entrepreneur will pull out.
Talent misses out on a platform
As Indian films have continued coming in to Pakistan, Bollywood became the next frontier for our actors. Pakistani comedians Shakeel Siddiqui and Kashif Khan became household names across the border through Indian television. And our musicians found playback singing a viable option, while others gave there songs to Indian films and succeeded in scoring deals with record labels there.

The India-Pakistan exchange of talent came a long way from Karafilm Festival where Hasan Zaidi had invited Mahesh and Pooja Bhatt. If you remember, that was how they took back Atif Aslam, Roxen and Meera for their movies. And that was when other Indian filmmakers picked up on Pakistani talent and started doing the same. It was a process that was long overdue and it took a long time coming.

"We worked so hard on collaborations and have always supported the release of Bollywood movies in Pakistan not for India's industry but for our own good," said Hasan Zaidi, Director KaraFilm Festival. "Once the cinema culture is developed here and money starts rolling in, the quality of our movies will improve as well. And, if the current situation worsens then the five to six years of hard work put in will just go down the drain."

Hasan Zaidi is right in what he is saying. The misplaced patriotism of those who say that Indian films should be banned altogether can potentially halt the revival of cinema in Pakistan.
Even though the situation between the two countries is tense these days, artistes on our side of the border are showing more flexibility towards India. We need the Indian connection more for our entertainment industry than India needs us. The media moguls in India are hesitant to work with Pakistani artistes these days and the workers of MNS are burning CDs of Adnan Sami Khan and Ghulam Ali while here at home people are still looking forward to Bollywood releases in Pakistan. While Indians were canceling the shoots of Pakistani artists in their studios and sending them back to Pakistan, people here were calling up cinema houses to find out if Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi will be released. This is one reality we can't turn away from and all jingoistic patriotism won't change the facts on the ground.

No matter how ironic it may sound but the truth remains that Bollywood movies saved our cinema industry at a time when cinema owners were thinking of winding up their business. People flocked towards the cinema after Khuda Kay Liye but after that no other Hollywood or Lollywood movie could generate the same interest among the audiences. It was Bollywood movies that brought life back to our cinemas. By curbing their release locally, Indian business will not be affected as much as our own. While distributors and cinema owners remain very optimistic about the future of Bollywood in Pakistan, they are on tenterhooks because of the tension.

Come what may, here's hoping that the revival of cinema carries on in 2009. Pakistan needs it.